The Cache

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Ok, so the cache, located at /Users/username/Library/Caches/PlexMediaServer is now at 13.3Gb and growing.
The PhotoTranscoder folder alone is most of this.

  1. How do shrink this folder, or at least stop the PhotoTranscoder dropping hundreds of redundant duplicates?
  2. How do I relocate the plex cache folder to an external drive, as symlink doesn’t appear to work.

I can’t just let the Plex server eat up my working drive!

2

I just delete the contents of the cache, it’ll slowly start growing again. I usually do this every few months when I bring my server down for maintenance.

3

I think your first question is already being answered above.

My question is why do you even want to do that. Cache: to increase data retrieval performance by reducing the need to access the underlying slower storage layer or to increase performance in simultaneous/recurring usage. So moving to external will decrease the performance.

You can achieve both of the above 2 points and even increase performance if you don’t restart your server often.
You can put the PhotoTranscoder folder in RAM Drive, in Linux its very easy to mount ram drive and give permissions to plex:plex just search the internet.
But if you often restart your server it will be opposite, the server will generate those images and meta again and again as per the client and user requirements.

4

@Gary-Threlfall Can you please share your Server logs?

5

Err, as above “I can’t just let the Plex server eat up my working drive!”

6

Is it that hard to relocate these folders to somewhere where I’m not restricted for storage space?

7

You could start with providing the requested server logs…

8

Interesting. My Cache folder is currently at 109GB, which is 10% of my 1TB SSD.

Logs incoming…

10

The PhotoTranscoder folder serves a purpose. It generates the different sizes of images used for different devices. That’s why people say that it “grows” because when people browse your plex from different devices it generates those thumbnails. If you delete that folder, your server has to regenerate them again. That’s why after you delete that folder, the pages load slower.

13GB is puny. Mine is several times that.

You shouldn’t put your PhotoTranscode folder on a slower drive if you care about how fast your pages load. My advice? Get a bigger drive.

11

Love to.
It’s an M1 Mac Mini with a 256Gb Drive.
Upgrade not a possibility, but fast external drives are, hence, move or redirect folder to external drive.
Ideally, a setting in preferences with the ability to set a location, lots of apps allow exactly that so it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary.
In the absence of that a redirect or symlink etc

12

Plex Media Server Logs_2024-03-26_21-47-37.zip (2.4 MB)

13

If you’re having problems fitting the 13GB from Plex in a 256GB drive, you have other problems that have nothing to do with Plex.

14

Ok.
So.
I use the home drive for the footage I’m editing in Davinci Resolve.
If you know anything about editing 4K footage in RAW you’ll understand that the 170Gb of space that is left can be VERY quickly eaten up.
You would also understand that the built in drive on the M1/2/3 based Macs is very fast and is needed for editing.
Of course afterwards I archive the project to an external server.

I’m still not sure why I’m having to explain myself per se, it’s my machine and surely a choice or option in the server client should give me the option of where I would like to place a folder of data that I have zero control over the growth of?
After all, I’m given the choice of where to store my library files.
On the basis of your response Plex should just tell ME where they are going to allow my library to be placed and be done with it!

Anyway, server logs added.
Thanks.

15

ChuckPa created Plex DBRepair, a shell utility which can remove the old Phototranscoder files safely.

The README describes the DBREPAIR_CACHEAGE environment variable
You might automatically run the DBRepair script once a day.

Your next request on how to relocate the transcoder cache, I haven’t tried it. Symlink should work as described in the other forum posts on the phototranscoder cache. It looks like I hard coded the transcoder cache directory in DBRepair on the following line, but I haven’t checked whether the script will follow symlinks.

16

Thanks Nibbles, that looks very useful, in lieu of successfully symlinking the cache & application support folders, that could keep it under control.
I think I should create a request for a software improvement as a parallel task, but my hopes for implementation are slim I think.

17

So, Plex, any chance of an updated client that allows me to choose where files go?

18

ps. logs shared…crickets

19

Not much to add other than we have an internal issue for tracking this problem. It’s being investigated.

1 Like
20

Well, I deleted a few large multi-season TV series and of course, the application support/plex media server/metadata folder grew by over a gigabyte.
Yep, I deleted files from my library but the metadata grew?!?!?

I’m absolutely sick to death of not being able to control where Plex data is stored.
I have 3 large external drives connected to my system, the largest being a paltry 28TB.
But no… I have to let an app happily store uncontrollable amounts of data on my root drive with ZERO ability to control it.

I’ve looked at competing clients before but found no compelling reason to jump ship, but now I feel as if Plex are literally pushing me to change.

21

Question posted on Jellyfin forum.
Let’s see.